o sit up in; and whenever we
were below, we were in our berths. To prevent the rain and the sea-water
which broke over the bows from washing down, we were obliged to keep the
scuttle closed, so that the forecastle was nearly air-tight. In this
little wet leaky hole we were all quartered, in an atmosphere so bad
that our lamp, which swung in the middle from the beams, sometimes
actually burned blue, with a large circle of foul air about it. Still I
was never in better health than after three weeks of this life. I gained
a great deal of flesh, and we all ate like horses. At every watch when
we came below, before turning in, the bread barge and beef kid were
overhauled. Each man drank his quart of hot tea night and morning, and
glad enough we were to get it; for no nectar and ambrosia were sweeter
to the lazy immortals than was a pot of hot tea, a hard biscuit, and a
slice of cold salt beef to us after a watch on deck. To be sure, we were
mere animals, and had this life lasted a year instead of a month, we
should have been little better than the ropes in the ship. Not a razor,
nor a brush, nor a drop of water, except the rain and the spray, had
come near us all the time: for we were on an allowance of fresh
water--and who would strip and wash himself in salt water on deck, in
the snow and ice, with the thermometer at zero?

A START; AND PARTING COMPANY

From 'Two Years before the Mast'

The California had finished discharging her cargo, and was to get under
way at the same time with us. Having washed down decks and got
breakfast, the two vessels lay side by side in complete readiness for
sea, our ensigns hanging from the peaks and our tall spars reflected
from the glassy surface of the river, which since sunrise had been
unbroken by a ripple. At length a few whiffs came across the water, and
by eleven o'clock the regular northwest wind set steadily in. There was
no need of calling all hands, for we had all been hanging about the
forecastle the whole forenoon, and were ready for a start upon the first
sign of a breeze. Often we turned our eyes aft upon the captain, who was
walking the deck, with every now and then a look to windward. He made a
sign to the mate, who came forward, took his station deliberately
between the knightheads, cast a glance aloft, and called out, "All hands
lay aloft and loose the sails!" We were half in the rigging before the
order came, and never since we left Boston were the gaskets off t